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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records

A dislocation-based, strain–gradient–plasticity strengthening model for deformation processed metal–metal composites

Deformation processed metal–metal composites (DMMCs) are high-strength, high-electrical conductivity composites developed by severe plastic deformation of two ductile metal phases. The extraordinarily high strength of DMMCs is underestimated using the rule of mixture (or volumetric weighted average) of conventionally work-hardened metals. A dislocation-density-based, strain–gradient–plasticity model is proposed to relate the strain-gradient effect with the geometrically necessary dislocations emanating from the interface to better predict the strength of DMMCs. The model prediction was compared with our experimental findings of Cu–Nb, Cu–Ta, and Al–Ti DMMC systems to verify the applicability of the new model. The results show that this model predicts the strength of DMMCs better than the rule-of-mixture model. The strain-gradient effect, responsible for the exceptionally high strength of heavily cold worked DMMCs, is dominant at large deformation strain since its characteristic microstructure length is comparable with the intrinsic material length.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Capturing the softening in T91 steel annealed with molten LBE through interfacial gradient plasticity

In order to study the effect of annealing with molten lead–bismuth eutectic alloy (mLBE) on the mechanical properties of T91 steel, micropillar compression tests were analyzed through the consideration of mechanical interface energy terms within gradient plasticity. The stress–strain curves of the micropillars showed significant stochastic effects, characterized by a different elastic and plastic behavior response for each pillar. Among the various pillars, some exhibited a similar trilinear behavior. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of these specimens demonstrated localized slip deformation and slip planes after compression, while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed the presence of a severe slip zone along the random grain boundaries (RGBs), indicating that the GBs played a dominant role in the deformation/slip. By employing interfacial gradient plasticity that can explicitly account for the presence of GBs, the trilinear response was captured, allowing for the determination of the mechanical interface parameter. As anticipated the pillars which underwent severe slip at the GBs had a lower value for the mechanical interface parameter. Finally, annealing with mLBE can, therefore, in some cases result in softening in the overall stress–strain, as it lowers the mechanical interface energy of GBs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Gradient Plasticity Model and its Implementation into MARMOT

The influence of strain gradient on deformation behavior of nuclear structural materials, such as body-centered cubic (bcc) iron alloys has been investigated. We have developed and implemented a dislocation based strain gradient crystal plasticity material model. A mesoscale crystal plasticity model for inelastic deformation of metallic material, bcc steel, has been developed and implemented numerically. Continuum Dislocation Dynamics (CDD) with a novel constitutive law based on dislocation density evolution mechanisms was developed to investigate the deformation behaviors of single crystals, as well as polycrystalline materials by coupling CDD and crystal plasticity (CP). The dislocation density evolution law in this model is mechanism-based, with parameters measured from experiments or simulated with lower-length scale models, not an empirical law with parameters back-fitted from the flow curves.

continuous dislocation dynamics↗

Modelling dislocation-graphene interactions in a BCC Fe matrix by molecular dynamics simulations and gradient plasticity theory

We report graphene nanosheets (GNS) can enhance the strength and ductility of metal-based composites as they can obstruct the propagation of dislocations. The present article employs Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate dislocation-GNS interaction mechanisms and possible influencing factors, including the number of GNS layers, the thickness of the metallic amorphous layer and the C - C bond strength. The results indicated that the shear strength of the metal/GNS interface and the bending stiffness of GNS determined the ability of GNS to block dislocation transmission. A physically based phenomenological parameter that can capture such dislocation-GNS interactions is the mechanical interface energy that has been put forth within gradient plasticity. By fitting the theoretical expressions to the simulation data, it was possible to obtain estimates for the mechanical interface energy for the GNS. It was found that increasing the GNS layers and adding an amorphous layer resulted in a strengthening in the stress–strain response and increased the value of this interfacial parameter. This indicates that the mechanical interfacial energy can be a unified measure for capturing and tuning the strength of various interfaces such as grain boundaries, GNS, amorphous-crystalline interface and bimetal interfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Variational projection methods for gradient crystal plasticity using Lie algebras

Summary A computational method is developed for evaluating the plastic strain gradient hardening term within a crystal plasticity formulation. While such gradient terms reproduce the size effects exhibited in experiments, incorporating derivatives of the plastic strain yields a nonlocal constitutive model. Rather than applying mixed methods, we propose an alternative method whereby the plastic deformation gradient is variationally projected from the elemental integration points onto a smoothed nodal field. Crucially, the projection utilizes the mapping between Lie groups and algebras in order to preserve essential physical properties, such as orthogonality of the plastic rotation tensor. Following the projection, the plastic strain field is directly differentiated to yield the Nye tensor. Additionally, an augmentation scheme is introduced within the global Newton iteration loop such that the computed Nye tensor field is fed back into the stress update procedure. Effectively, this method results in a fully implicit evolution of the constitutive model within a traditional displacement‐based formulation. An elemental projection method with explicit time integration of the plastic rotation tensor is compared as a reference. A series of numerical tests are performed for several element types in order to assess the robustness of the method, with emphasis placed upon polycrystalline domains and multi‐axis loading. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Truster, Timothy J.↗

The roles of yield strength mismatch, interface strength, and plastic strain gradients in fatigue crack growth across interfaces

An irreversible cohesive zone model was used to understand how plastic strain gradients and yield strength mismatches affect fatigue crack growth across bi-material and multilayer interfaces for a range of interface strengths. Parametric studies identified regimes of penetration through the interface, deflection into the interface, and a transition where cracks extend on both paths. Plastic strain gradients strongly influence the transition regime, and a yield strength mismatch is necessary to cause deflection. For crack growth across an interlayer, interactions between the interfaces occur when the crack-tip plastic zone spans the interlayer. Plastic strain gradients promote penetration through the interlayer.

42 ENGINEERING↗

On the combined gradient-stochastic plasticity model: Application to Mo-micropillar compression

A formulation for addressing heterogeneous material deformation is proposed. It is based on the use of a stochasticity-enhanced gradient plasticity model implemented through a cellular automaton. The specific application is on Mo-micropillar compression, for which the irregularities of the strain bursts observed have been experimentally measured and theoretically interpreted through Tsallis' q-statistics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Modeling Near-Crack-Tip Plasticity from Nano- to Micro-Scales

Several efforts that are aimed at understanding the plastic deformation mechanisms related to crack propagation at the nano-, meso- and micro-length scales including atomistic simulation, discrete dislocation plasticity, strain gradient plasticity and crystal plasticity are discussed. The paper focuses on discussion of newly developed methodologies and their application to understanding damage processes in aluminum and its alloys. Examination of plastic mechanisms as a function of increasing length scale illustrates increasingly complex phenomena governing plasticity

Glaessgen, Edward H.↗

Modeling and Characterization of Near-Crack-Tip Plasticity from Micro- to Nano-Scales

Methodologies for understanding the plastic deformation mechanisms related to crack propagation at the nano-, meso- and micro-length scales are being developed. These efforts include the development and application of several computational methods including atomistic simulation, discrete dislocation plasticity, strain gradient plasticity and crystal plasticity; and experimental methods including electron backscattered diffraction and video image correlation. Additionally, methodologies for multi-scale modeling and characterization that can be used to bridge the relevant length scales from nanometers to millimeters are being developed. The paper focuses on the discussion of newly developed methodologies in these areas and their application to understanding damage processes in aluminum and its alloys.

Glaessgen, Edward H.↗

Modeling and Characterization of Near-Crack-Tip Plasticity from Micro- to Nano-Scales

Methodologies for understanding the plastic deformation mechanisms related 10 crack propagation at the nano, meso- and micro-length scales are being developed. These efforts include the development and application of several computational methods including atomistic simulation, discrete dislocation plasticity, strain gradient plasticity and crystal plasticity; and experimental methods including electron backscattered diffraction and video image correlation. Additionally, methodologies for multi-scale modeling and characterization that can be used to bridge the relevant length scales from nanometers to millimeters are being developed. The paper focuses on the discussion of newly developed methodologies in these areas and their application to understanding damage processes in aluminum and its alloys.

Glaessgen, Edward H.↗

Method for compression molding of thermosetting plastics utilizing a temperature gradient across the plastic to cure the article

A method is described for compression molding of thermosetting plastics composition. Heat is applied to the compressed load in a mold cavity and adjusted to hold molding temperature at the interface of the cavity surface and the compressed compound to produce a thermal front. This thermal front advances into the evacuated compound at mean right angles to the compression load and toward a thermal fence formed at the opposite surface of the compressed compound.

Heier, W. C.↗

Gradient microstructure induced shear band constraint, delocalization, and delayed failure in CuZr nanoglasses

The mechanical properties of metallic glasses (MGs) can be significantly tuned by introducing a nanoscale glass-glass interface microstructure. Here, we design three types of Cu 64 Zr 36 MG seamless gradient microstructures by combining glassy grain sizes from 3 to 15 nm. We perform tensile loading molecular dynamics simulations on the named gradient nanoglasses to characterize their mechanical behavior. In all cases, results indicate the generation of gradient plasticity following the gradient in grain size, i.e. local plasticity increases from large to small grain size regions. Loading parallel to the gradient direction results in initial broad necking followed by catastrophic failure. In contrast, loading perpendicular to the gradient direction results in diffused shear band propagation from large to small grain size regions, delaying the generation of a dominant shear band and further delocalizing plastic deformation. In conclusion, the results demonstrate the synergistic effects generated by heterogeneous gradient designs in the mechanical behavior of metallic glasses.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Collaborative Research: The Role of Grain Boundary Structure and Chemistry in Materials Failure

Throughout the one year duration of this award significant progress was made in understanding the effect of grain boundaries in polycrystalline materials. The starting point of this work is that each grain boundary can be characterized by an interface energy and respective interface parameter, which depend on the boundary chemical composition and structure. As this is a new point of view for treating grain boundaries, an interdisciplinary approach was followed to prove the existence of such interface terms. Throughout the project, hence, theory, experiments and simulations were used. Molecular dynamics and dislocation density-function dynamics were performed to understand dislocation-grain boundary interactions in pure Al crystalline materials, as potentials for Al are well established. The formation of dislocation pile-ups was observed and the strain profiles were in agreement with interfacial gradient plasticity, which is the theoretical framework that allows the introduction of mechanically induced interface energies. After verifying numerically the existence of mechanically induced interface energies, nanoindentation experiments were performed near grain boundaries of Fe-Si crystals that contained three grain boundaries. By indenting in close proximity to the boundary these experiments allowed for measuring the critical stress at which deformation was transmitted across the boundary to the adjacent grains, either through dislocation transmission or absorption and subsequent emission. This critical stress, also termed grain boundary yield stress, was in accordance with the value predicted by interfacial gradient plasticity, further verifying that mechanically induced interface energies can help define the material response. In the Fe-Si crystals the Si content was kept constant at 3wt%, but three specimen were considered each of which was characterized by a different misorientation at the grain boundary. By relating the experiments with the analytical gradient plasticity expressions it was possible to obtain first estimates for the interface parameter as ~200N/m. This value was not proportional to the misorientation angle, but depended also on the grain boundary plane. The continuation of this project is performing more detailed experiments on additional Fe-Si and Fe-C systems (both nanoindentation and in-situ transmission electron microscopy) to further understand the physical origin of such interface parameters. Furthermore, molecular dynamics nanoindentation simulations are also performed on similar systems to better understand the dislocation grain boundary interactions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Constraint and size effects in confined layer plasticity

Plane strain finite element analyses are used to model the experiments for a thin metal layer confined between elastic solids. Here, the thin metal layer undergoes elastic-plastic deformations, here modelled by strain gradient plasticity, while the rest of the solid deforms only elastically. Plane strain is assumed and finite strains are accounted for. The microscopic boundary condition at the band interface is initially taken to be zero plastic strain increment, but plastic straining at the interface is allowed when the plastic strain gradient at the interface has exceeded a critical value. When the narrow metal band is inclined 45° relative to the direction of compression of the solid simple shear develops in the band and predictions are rather similar to those of a one-dimensional analysis for an infinite band. For a band at 90° the elastic parts give significant constraint on plastic flow, the stress fields are non-uniform along the band and the average nominal compressive stress shows strong sensitivity to the layer thickness and to the width of the specimen. Remarkably good qualitative, and in some cases quantitative, agreement is found with the experimental observations. Considering also other band angles, both the average nominal shear and compressive stress show variations with the angle.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Multiscale modeling and experimental validation for nanochannel depth control in atomic force microscopy-based nanofabrication

Nanochannels are essential features of many microelectronic and biomedical devices. To date, the most commonly employed method to fabricate these nanochannels is atomic force microscopy (AFM). However, there is presently a very poor understanding on the fundamental principles underlying this process, which limits its reliability and controllability. In this study, we present a comprehensive multiscale model by incorporating strain gradient plasticity and strain gradient elasticity theories, which can predict nanochannel depths during AFM-based nanofabrication. The modeling results are directly verified with experiments performed on Cu and Pt substrates. As this model can also be extended to include many additional conditions, it has broad applicability in a wide range of AFM-based nanofabrication applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗